


Tag, you're it!

by IdkWhatImDoingSendHelp



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bart Allen / Jaime Reyes (past and onesided sorta), Did not manage to feature the runaways this time but I will next time, Doesn't get more blink and you'll miss it gays than this, I'll come back and edit it like 3 times before I finally move on that"s my MO, M/M, Or so angsty for Jaime, Still checked most of my list of stuff to reference so, This was NOT suppose to become this long lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 06:25:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20169628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdkWhatImDoingSendHelp/pseuds/IdkWhatImDoingSendHelp
Summary: The team plays a game of tag but Bart has his own game going on with Ed.But that's fine, because Ed is going to win.





	Tag, you're it!

**Author's Note:**

> Idk why I wrote this besides I'm fed up with refreshing the page and seeing how slowly the fics are accumulating  
Set the ep21 I guess cause why not. After Gar was named Condiment King  
This was supposed to be a fun littl' game of tag with some light teasing and make out and then it turned into whatever that is.  
There is some light angst if you squint but oh well.  
All aboard the clown train fellas.

Forager honestly doesn't know how it came to this........

Virgil is wrestling with Cassie on the floor, Bart is holding on to Eduardo feom behind while sitting on the floor, and they look stuck in their own little world because Ed is blushing hard, and it looks like Bart is whispering to him, Jaime is looking over at them and he is _not_ happy , which is weird but not the main issue right now, Garfield is running from Vic, Perdita and Traci have formed an alliance together; Tim, sorry Robin, is here and is horrified by what he is seeing because the couch is destroyed, Jaime accidently set it half on fire because of Kadhija, the sprinklers have gone off, the table is on the floor, Gar turned into a bird and is flying everywhere while laughing like crazy and Vic is still running after anyone to touch them and honestly? Forager doesn't understand how a game of **tag** managed to turn like _this_.

\-------- _**40 minutes earlier**_\---------

Eduardo was sitting on the couch in the Outsiders tower while Bart leaned on him just a little. Just enough to make him feel warm on the spot he occupied. Jaime and Traci were curled up against each other while he was stocking her hair lightly.

'Cute' Ed thought. He wishes he could do it with Bart but his hair aren't long enough anymore. It used to be gorgeous and fluffy and looked soft when he first came here. His were a mess. He looked like Spike Spiegel which is cool and all but not exactly practical when you want someone to caress your hair softly. Bart would get his hand stuck in his hair for sure. 'Shame' he thought. He just really wants someone to pet his hair.....

The team had had a pretty quiet day today and honestly Eduardo wasn't complaining.

After their last mission where Garfield got named 'Condiment King' he feels like laying low and resting can't be that bad. Gar and Vic are training together but should be finished soon, meanwhile Virgil and Cassie have been playing their weird football game on a table whose name he can't recall but Ed is happy for them because honestly if Cassie is looking for someone who won't hide or lie to her as a hero then she is kicking his ass right now. She probably needs some time to get over Tim after 2 years with him but still. It's right in front of you Cassie, go for it.

Because Virgil won't. He's too nice to go for someone fresh out of a relationship and he likes Tim. He doesn't want to rub it in that he fucked up. Eduardo is hoping Cassie will make the first move. Only for his peace of mind cause he doesn't feel like watching Virgil's heart eyes for Cassie everytime she does something cool or nice (cause that's a lot) and then feel guilty and embarassed because she 'just broke up' and 'only sees him as a friend anyways'. Ed calls bullshit on that, cause even if Virgil has no game with girls he sure does with video games. And Ed remembers watching Cassie being flustered when he defeated her in their tournament and he knows it's not because she lost. If only Virgil could see that too..... things would go along a lot quicker.

Not that Eduardo is any better really. He knows that he and Bart have been growing closer. He is 99% sure Bart is keen to get even closer. But he can't help but think of Jaime..... Look he's not an idiot okay, he's aware that Bart had a .... thing going on with Jaime but that was over as soon as it began by the time Jaime turned 18. Ed's pretty sure all they did was share a kiss at a party but it almost went downhill from here for Jaime. And Ed understands. His dad doesn't really know Eduardo's pan if his insistence on how he and Bart are 'friends' is any indication.... then Ed is guessing he's not prepared for it either. 

Eduardo sights. He wants to be with Bart but also doesn't want to rub it into Jaime's nose that he and Bart can get to a place he couldn't because of his parents.

It's not that they have a problem with homosexuality.

But their church does. And their neighbourhood. And most of their town and state really. The police isn't very kind to Mexicans and Jaime has buffed up due to superhero training so he doesn't look as young as he could. Sometimes, the police will drive by slowly as he walks by. Never doing anything because he lives in a catholic suburban area so they have no real excuse to do anything. But if they were to see him hand in hand with Bart who looks his age while Jaime looks older than he actually is..... things wouldn't end well for him. And Jaime never planned on strutting around hand in hand with Bart anyways, because he already felt really bad for having feelings for someone who was 15, he never intended for it to happen, but when he did he thought he would just worry about it later and repress it. As one does. But Bart doesn't get that. He's only been in this timeline for 2 years, most of which spent with his family, mourning Wally and superhero stuff. He didn't have the opportunity to learn about the more gruesome stuff going on in this timeline yet. So he just went for it. He kissed Jaime at a party. It was just them, they were just chatting in the bathroom together after someone dropped their drink on Jaime's shirt and he needed to clean it a little.

They weren't drunk either..... it was just a natural progression of their relationship.

But then Jaime tried to make his family meet Bart as more than a friend and they got scared. For him. Because he's not 18 yet but he will be soon and if anyone tries to attack him because he's with a guy, one that is a couple of years younger than him too..... things won't end well. His parents knows that there are risks. And they never said 'don't be bisexual' they just wanted him safe. And Jaime knew that. So he decided to turn Bart down and it was a bit hard for him to understand at first but he did eventually. He did some research and understood a bit better that being into guys was seen as a problem here.....it hurt for a while but he they got back to being friends. Even though Jaime clearly isn't really over him.

Ed felt for him. He did. But Jaime is in a relationship now and no one forced him to be. So why should he, or Bart stop themselves from living just because he decided to get with someone else?

Ugh, Eduardo doesn't want to think about what his father would say about his sexuality now that they are a public superhero team. He already has to deal with his father's concern about that, he doesn't need him to be worried about the potential attacks he might receive for being pan. No thank you.

But for Bart?

Honestly he'd bear it all. The hate, the snide comments, the uncomfortable questions, Gordon and his trash talk, the gross comments on the internet, all the backclash?

He'd bear it all, if only he can get one more of Bart's small smile, the ones he keeps tucked away and safe, just for Ed.

He sighs..... Bart looks up at him and smile lightly. He can't help but think how easy it would be for him to lean down and press his lips against him. Just like that. In front of everyone. He wants to do it..... But a soft chuckle brings him out of his daze. He looks into Bart's green-eyes, sparkling with mischief, taunting him. He's been staring at his lips too long. He can almost hear it: ' I know you want to kiss me ' and he does. He really, really wants to taste his lips. He's flustered he can feel it. Probably blushing too. But Bart's stare has him pinned in place. So he can only close his eyes and lean down. He's gonna go for it. Kiss him. Right now. Right here. He goes in slow, in case Bart doesn't want to. But he feels his fingertips on his jaw and lean in more. His nose bumping into his. And just as he about to finally taste his lips..... he taste.... popcorn. He opens his eyes, half confused, and is met with the same mischief feom before.

Bart feeding him popcorn while sporting a shit eating grin on his face. 

Jesus. He is a tease. Unbelievable. He could tell Ed was about to kiss him in front of everyone so he decided to tease him for it. Arguably Ed played himself. But still he poutted, in the hopes of softening Bart a little, and judging by the way his eyes got darker and pupil dilated, it worked.

But not enough to change his mind as he fed Ed some more popcorn and turned back to the TV.

Ed tried not to sulk but it was hard. The movie had 3 minutes left when Vic and Gar came back from the gym while Cassie lost against Virgil again. She was blushing furiously now while he was scratching his head. 'Huh' Ed thought. He wondered what that was about. 

'He said something that was more heartfelt and nice than he intended to ever say to her face and now they are both blushing messes.' Ed turned around to see Perdita standing behind the couch looking over to them. Astute as always. 

'What are you guys watching?' Vic asks.

'Tag' Traci answered. 'Like the game?' 

'Yeah it's a movie about a group of guys who've been playing the game for 20 years but one of them inexplicably manages to escape everytime. There's a wedding involved somehow.' Ed explained. 

Traci raised an eyebrow 'Have we watched the same movie? Cause I feel like you've oversimplified by a lot.' Ed could feel his cheek heat because he hadn't really payed much attention to the movie, too distracted by a certain red-haired speedster standing too close to him.

'I just thought the game was weird to last for 20 years. I think it's something to play on a couple of hours tops. Otherwise it becomes weird. No?' 

Bart glanced at Ed, the mischief in his eyes was back. He smiled wickedly (why did Ed find that attractive?) he knew he was up to no good. He could feel it.

'Why don't we try to play it? Bart finally says, his bright smile back, zipping around to grab at Virgil and Cassie and pull them close to him. He was ecstatic. Eduardo knew something was up, this man will be the death of him and honestly? He doesn't mind. And that is the reason why he says: 

'Sounds like a fun bonding game for the team guys! We can set some ground rules first.' 

'Powers are allowed but not for abuse! You cannot attack with it only defence!' Of course Garfield would say that.

'I'll start' and of course, the speedster would say that. No one is surprised. 

Ed zaps away in a matter of second. As far away as possible from him as everyone else ran away and thus, shenanigans began.

\-------- _**30 mins later**_\---------

Ed got tagged by Traci, laughing as she did so and he caught Bart before he could run off. He was feeling pretty proud of himself because the ginger looked _stunned. _Eduardo zapped to the corridor and away from Bart but he anticipated his movement and speedran in front of him. He miscalculated his speed and ran straight into him, tackling him on the floor.

This kind of things only happen in the movies...... He wasn't complaining tho.

Bart's face was close again, so close he could see all of his freckles, see his pupil get darker and dilate again, feel his soft breath of his face and his eyes dart to his lips. God he wants to kiss him so bad. His breath was erratic, the game hadn't started that long ago but it had been so fast and exhausting he was ready to just leave the game and stay here with Bart and make out all night right here.

Yep he could do that. 

But Bart is leaning this time around and Ed's breath hitch.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, he's _actually_ gonna kiss him. It's gonna happen. Shit he can't cope. Bart is just a breath away from hip lips. He can feel him, his smile against his mouth, his chest pressed against him, his hands clutching at his shoulders..... and then he kiss his lips...._so softly_ he can hardly feel it.

'Tag, you're it' he says, barely above a whisper he almost misses it. 

And then he's gone. Speed ran to the other side of the corridor and turned around just before the door to the common room and give him a shit eating grin. Again.

Ed is still lying on the floor, shooketh, 'what a tease' he thinks. 'I'm whipped. I'm in love with someone who runs so fast I can barely keep up sometimes'.....

But this is one of the time where Ed has to measure up.

If Bart wants to play, he'll play. He props himself on his elbows and smirks at him, raising his eyebrow while looking him up and down. He wants Bart to know he is in for it before he zaps himself right behind him, blocking the speedster's way to force him back on the other side of the corridor. 'Going somewhere?' he asks.

Corny but efficient.

Bart falls for it, not that he has any other choice, speerun to the other end of the corridor.

Eduardo was waiting for it to happen and zaps himself next to Bart further down the hall and slams him against the wall, crowding his space, trapping him between his arms and putting his head inches to Bart's looking at his lips before settling for his eyes.

He's blushing heavenly, it brings out his freckles so well he can't get enough of it. But he won't meet his eyes. Probably thought he would play this cat and mouse game longer but over 30 mins of this is enough for Eduardo. So he traps his chin between his index and thumb and lightly raises his face to his, brushing his lips against his just to tease him, because he wants to give him a taste of his own medicine. 

'Do you still want to run?' he whispers against his mouth. Bart licks his lips and Ed looks down at the gesture. 'Why, do you want to stop?' He smiles against his mouth as the red-haired raises his hands to hold his back.

'I want to kiss you' he admits, quietly 'Then what are you waiting for? - For you to stand still'.

And he kisses him. Slowly at first, pressing their lips together, moving them before he moved back, took a breath and kissed him again, harder, pressing them together , putting his hands behind his neck, holding him closer, deepening the kiss.

Bart took a hard breath, and Ed kissed him again, teasing his tongue against his bottom lip, asking for entrance before Bart granted it, moaning into the kiss like he couldn't get enough of it. He wanted more, God he wanted so much more but he didn't know how to say it, how to show it so he poured it into this open mouthed kiss, intertwined his tongue with Bart's and hoped he'd _make him_ feel how much he wanted to be with him.

God he had it bad. But he couldn't care less right now. He broke apart and was breathing. Hard. So was Bart. He was flushed right up to his neck, his collarbone too, the red was peeking from under his shirt and he wanted to kiss it.

'We should...(_huff_)... um.... (_huff_) we should go back to the game... (_huff_) the others are gonna wonder where we are'...

What was he saying? He didn't want to go back.... but he also did not want to be interrupted.

Bart smiled between heavy breath. 'You're still tag - well then, he leaned in to kiss him very, very softly, and whispered: tag you're it' and zapped himself to the common room.

He landed next to Virgil who asked where was because Vic was tag now - wait what?- and chasing down Cassie before catching her and tagging her.

Bart appeared at full speed probably to land on Ed but missed Cassie's lasso by an inch before she caught Gar and yelled 'Tag, you're it!!' while he toppled on top of Virgil instead. Talk about missing your mark Bart.

Which stopped everyone dead in their tracks. 

Perdita burst out laughing, Traci muffled a laugh behind her hand, Jaime could not have looked more sour if he tried, Gar was just laughing but as a bird and Ed was looking over to them and could honestly admit that he felt jealous. Because that quite literally was supposed to be him under Bart and boy does he wishes it had been.

But Bart recovered quickly, proudly yelled 'TAG YOU'RE IT' and sped ran next to Ed. 

Everyone lost their shit.

'WAIT I THOUGHT I WAS THE TAG- WAIT NO IT WAS BART I TOUCHED HIM EARLIER- OMG THAT MEANS THAT THERE ARE TWO TAGS!!' And finally Virgil jumped on his feet without using his hands - it's the abs people, the abs - which made Cassie's eyebrow skyrocket like she just found out something both very interesting and surprising - it's the nerdiness people, the nerdiness - while Virgil said, more serious than he's ever been : 'This. Means. War.' He lunged at Cassie to catch her, Perdita and Traci formed an alliance against Gar who was trying to get to them, Jaime was just sitting on the couch, a confused mess of conflicted emotions, and Victor was laughing loudly with tears streaming down his eyes.

Wonder Girl landed on the back of the couch, to use as a trample to jump to the second floor but not before Virgil grabbed at Cassie who lost her balance and fell on the floor, somehow on top of Virgil. He was blushing hard and apologizing but only because he said 'Tag you're it!' Before scurrying away from under her and she too was left a confused mess of conflicting emotion. 

Meanwhile Gar decided to give up on the new dynamic duo Traci and Perdita and went back to human, tagged Victor, and back to bird just to rub it in.

Vic, who was no longer laughing but calling out for 'foul play' and 'this is so moded' ran after him to exact sweet revenge while Cassie launched her lasso at Ed but Bart grabbed him from behind and ran backwards to the other side of the room while Cassie swore 'Not another alliance!! It's not fair!!'

When she accidently threw off the table on the floor, Jaime decided it was time to get away from her before he got tagged too . So he just flew off and eyed Bart who was still holding onto a very flustered Ed.

Because Bart was holding onto his chest, with his back pressed to him and whispered 'Bet you wished it had been you instead of Virgil under me earlier' because _fuck_, yes he did. 'You know I like you right? Only you.' That made Ed feel hotter than he already did between the running, Bart kissing at his ear, his chest against his back, the make out session earlier, the confession he just made...... he wanted to say 'let's get out of here' but before he could Cassie jumped on Virgil and tackled him to the floor and proceeded to tickle him 'You're gonna pay for earlier!!' Virgil was crying laughing on the floor apologizing to her - he didn't do anything other than tag her but okay- Perdita and Traci made eyes at each other, a silent conversation issuing between them, giggling to each other because Virgil made her _feel_ something she didn't understand and her solution was to tackle and tickle him. Okay Cassie, you do you. 

Vic threw a cushion at Gar but missed the bird, Khadija reacted quicker than expected and blew the cushion sky high, with the rest of the blast landing on the sofa, catching fire, putting the sprinkler at work.

Bart leaning in against Ed's eat again and whispered 'you wanna get out of here and pick up where we left off?' and that send shivers down Ed's spine, he could feel the blush rising to his cheeks again but he was interrupted, yet again, by an impromptu arrival.

The boom tube opened revealing Forager and Tim (for some reason) who walked in on what was probably the most confusing scene of all time.

\---------- **back to current time** \----------

'Hum hum' Said Forager, trying to get everyone's attention while Tim went to turn off the sprinklers. 

Everyone froze. 

Perdita and Traci shared a look, while Virgil froze in his tracks blushing while sitting on top of Cassie - Tim's ex - before removing himself and helping her up. They were both flustered and looking guilty. Garfield went back to being a boy and Victor scratched the back of his head waiting for an earful. Jaime landed back on the floor and took his armour off, while Bart helped Ed up to his feet and grabbed his hand to hold on to.

Tim didn't say anything. He didn't even acknowledge what he stumbled upon.

Well.

He did mention the couch, table, fire, took notes of what happened but he did not make a single mention of Cassie and Virgil. Truth is, he felt awkward about it. He had no business butting in whatever was happening between Cassie and Virgil.

Honestly? He was okay with it. They tried to fix their relationship but.... there wasn't much left to fix. It's a bit awkward right now but hopefully they can be good friends again. Eventually. 

Traci's attempt at catching her boyfriend's attention were lost on him. He was too in his own thoughts to notice anything that was not Ed and Bart being lovey dovey with each other. Not right now, but later on. They will. And there was nothing he could do about it. And that hurt. Not that Bart himself was not available anymore, no maybe in a few years or something.... no what really hurt was the fact that they were happy and just.... living like normal. Whatever worries or fear they might have, they were going to live the way they wanted to, and deal with the consequences. He sighed. He couldn't live in a lie anymore....

He liked Traci, he did, but he only got with her because it was easy, and she needed to hide from herself the same way he did. But he needed to talk to her about some things. So that they were on the same page. And he was happy for Ed and Bart, they were good together. But he wanted to be happy for himself too. 

Victor was happy for once. Yeah the game ended weirdly but it had been so fun to just laugh with everyone else and be a kid for a minute. He spend so much time being worried about his dad and his scholarship and highschool and his new powers..... He forgot what it felt like to be carefree. He felt hopeful with this team, he would get to feel like that again.

Cassie was the first to crack.

'You're gonna tell Batman or Megan or any adults about what happened?' She asked Tim 'no' he said simply. 'Just gotta explain why the couch caught fire and the sprinkler started' and with that he left, probably to write his report or something and Forager was left standing there fidgeting. 

They were having so much fun Virgil forgot for a minute Cassie only just broke up and it was really lame of him to make any sort of move on her. But he couldn't help but feel happy about what she said during their wrestling session. She could be really cocky when she wanted to, but he actually managed to get the upper hand in the end. Probably would not have lasted long if Tim and Forager hadn't arrived but Virgil wasn't complaining. He thought he didn't have a chance but maybe he was wrong. He's gonna tell her how he feels, and let her know to take her time and once they are ready, if they're both still interested they can see how it goes. But for now he's just happy and trying not to show it too much.

Bart intertwined his fingers with Ed's. He smiled up at him and said 'well since this is resolved we might as well retreat to our room to play more games' Ed squinted his eyes at him 'what kind of game?' 

The red-haired tugged at his hand while dragging him away from the group 'well you know, we can decide when we're alone' he said innocently before kissing his cheek lightly. Yup. Ed is whipped. But he doesn't mind.

Perdita chuckled. Gar and Forager are giving her a questioning look but she just shrugs 'We should play tag more often. This team is very good at it.' She beamed.

They were just confused. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read my last fic you probs saw my end note saying I wanted some of that Cassie/Virgil stuff so I came through since no one else would.  
Still have to write the runaways participating in the shenanigans but I like staying canon compliant for now so I'll have to figure out how to put them in my story at some point.  
I'll figure it out but it's hard to get inspired that's not how my brain works.  
Stay tuned for some of that Zetaflash and Runaways I'll come back at some point.


End file.
